‘The Hobbit’ star Andy Serkis: ‘I play Gollum as if he was an addict’

Andy Serkis has revealed that he plays The Hobbit‘s Gollum “as if he was an addict”.

The actor previously portrayed Gollum in Peter Jackson‘s Lord Of The Rings trilogy, where the character became known for jealously guarding the magic ring, which he referred to as “my precious”. Serkis has reprised the role for The Hobbit, once again using motion-capture technology. During filming, Serkis wears a suit covered with sensors so that his movements can be transferred to a computer-generated image of Gollum.

Discussing how he gets into Gollum’s possessive mindset, Serkis told The Sun: “I had to find something very real to play that part and for me it was all about that ring and addiction, the whole schizophrenia and pathological lying. I play him pretty much as if he was an addict. It controls him and he craves and obsesses over this thing.”

Serkis also admitted that during filming, he finds it difficult to switch Gollum off. He explained: “It is really such a psychologically complex role you have to hold on to it all day long, you can’t just pop out of it. I have to keep the voice ready between takes.”

The first film in Jackson’s new trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is released in the UK on December 13. Alongside Serkis, it stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy and Benedict Cumberbatch. Scroll down and click ‘play’ to watch the trailer.
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